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Marla Deen

Finding ways to fit it all in each day . . .being fit, being healthy, enjoying BEING each day !

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A Weekend of Cousins, Dogs, Reading and a Summer Recipe!

June 6, 2016 by Marla-Deen Brooks Leave a Comment

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Lots to share today!  We had a full weekend around here.  I spent some time training to teach a new class format that begins this week, enjoying some summer downtime, summer reading AND spending time with two of our nieces, a boyfriend and their dog.  It was a full house!

I am so impressed with one of my nieces.  She came to Atlanta so audition for The Voice.  Now, I will go ahead and kill the suspicion by saying that, sadly, she did not make it through, but I am amazed at her perseverance, gumption and stamina to just get out there and go for it!  She had to arrive by 5 am, wait until around 10 am for her turn, and then be one of 10,000 in her group.  And they only took 15 females.  Crazy odds, right?  So, I say cheers to her and the experience!

I loved getting my boys together with two of their girl cousins, meeting their friend, and their dog, Champ, and, of course, cooking out.

Outdoor Eating
Look at T-Rex under the table waiting for scraps!
FullSizeRender 4
Champ fit right in . . . what’s another dog when you already have three?

 


Speaking of dogs, this is what’s going on under my feet as I write. . .

IMG_1897

IMG_1898

It’s exhausting chasing all of those squirrels . . . and tennis balls.  I’m sure our third dog is doing her fair share of napping somewhere . . .

On to more important things, like this salad I’ve been eating on all week.  I shared this with my Refresh & Reboot Group, but did a little tweaking and wanted to share it here.

Garlic Chickpea Salad

Honey Garlic Chickpea Salad
This is a great recipe to have on hand for the weekend or to have during the week. It is light and smack full of protein to keep you satiated and has the crunch that also satisfies. It will keep in the fridge for the week so it’s the perfect lunch for the Summer!

The one I made above is without the chicken, so make it however you like!

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
1 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 celery stalks, copped
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 can drained yellow corn
1/2 avocado, diced
1/3 cup plain greek yogurt
1 T honey
1 garlic clove, minced (or a little more if you like garlic, like me)
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:
Combine chicken, chickpeas and celery, corn and green bell pepper in a large bowl.
Top with greek yogurt, honey and garlic.  Mix well.
Add salt and pepper, to taste.
Top on lettuce or eat plain.

And, not to be undone by all the photos of the male dogs, here is what Lu does most of the day, every single day . . .

We call it pining after a tennis ball

Pining after the a tennis ball

Some of my summer downtime over the weekend was spent fininshing a book on my kindle and an audio book.

I listened to The Weekenders by Mary Kay Andrews.  I had never read anything by her, but as she is a Southern author I wanted to check it out.  She is currently on a book tour promoting this book.  I’ve been following on Instagram and have loved seeing where she ends up each week!  It is a complete beach read . . perfect for sitting by the pool or at the beach.

Unknown-2

On Saturday, I stayed up until 2:30 am finishing the next book.  I never do that!  I was not so happy Sunday morning with that decision, especially knowing I had to do some teacher training . . .

Unknown-1

What She Knew is definitely more on the serious side.  It is about the kidnapping of a little 8 year old boy.  It is told mainly from the perspective of the mother and a detective.  Again, I was not familiar with this author.  If you have read this I’d be interested to see what you thought.

That’s it for now!  Hope you are having a great start to the week!

Also, thanks for all of the great comments and feedback on my last post! I appreciate it so much!

Enjoy your Day!

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